Tatarstan and mental hygiene

Tatarstan is a long way from Albany, but some diplomats from the Eastern European republic which is part of the Russian Federation, are visiting the state capitol this week and Assemblyman Peter Rivera, pictured here, met with them. He relayed a story from the visit to this overflow crowd at the Hart Theater here for a lobby day to push for continued funding for mental health programs. Rivera said he asked one of the Tatarstan officials how they provide mental health services to which the official told him there are no mental health problems in Tatarstan,

Rivera’s remarks drew laughter from the crowd, but he and others stressed that mental health services do relatively well in the governor’s proposed 2010-11 budget, at least compared to areas like education and health care which face severe cuts.

As a result, the more than 12 busloads of mental health advocates at the Capitol planned to visit their lawmakers and impress upon them the importance of keeping funding intact, said some of the rally’s organizers.

“It’s a great budget because there are not cuts,” added Office of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan, who also cautioned that returning veterans, along with the poor economy and its foreclosures and job losses, is straining resources.

Not everyone was as optimistic, with Harvey Rosenthal, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, reminding the crowd that “not having a COLA (cost of living adjustment) is a cut.”

Below, advocates from the Capital Region, meet with Sen. Hugh Farley of Schenectady.